Uplifting journalism through reward system
As the Fourth Estate of the realm with the constitutional duty of monitoring governance, the media has a wholesome responsibility that is at variance with remuneration. In fact, the media does not enjoy the benefits and emoluments other arms of government enjoy. Yet, the demand from the society about the media carrying out its responsibilities is one that is so high that it is put on its toes.
But in delivering its obligation of informing and educating the citizens including serving as watchdog of the other three arms of government, media practitioners some times do it at the detriment of their lives. And in spite of this, when a practitioner is unable to meet up at any instance, he is lampooned. Reason, some journalists have come to say that the profession is a thankless one, especially considering most media house do not pay while those who pay, don’t pay well.
Wanting to uplift the standard and reward those who stay true to professionalism, some individuals and organisations in Nigeria and on the continent have instituted awards to recognize media excellence. On yearly basis, journalists, especially those whose works have been adjudged to be outstanding, are rewarded.
On the continent, there is the CNN-MultiChoice Award, which started in 1995 and many journalists look up to winning yearly. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA), Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME) Awards, were the pacesetters, though over the years, other organisations, especially private organisations have keyed in and toe that path of rewarding the media including a form of reward system for the media. These awards are the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism, NB Golden Pen Award and Promasidor Quill Awards to mention a few.
Former Chairman, Board of Trustees, NMMA, the late Alade Odunewu, at the 19th edition of the NMMA in Enugu, highlighting the importance of the annual awards, said it is about promoting excellence and fostering unity among media institutions and the society.
DAME had its first outing on March 20, 1992, around the same time the NMMA came on board. Four months before DAME’s debut, Tell magazine, in anticipation, wrote on December 2, 1991, “What looks like a Nigerian version of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for media excellence in the U.S. is in the making courtesy of Diamond Publications Limited, publishers of Media Review. To be known as Diamond Awards for Media Excellence, and meant to enhance professionalism and reward hard work.”
For a while, CNN African journalists Award, DAME and NMMA were the three most popular awards among Nigerian journalists. But in 2008, Nigerian Breweries Plc inaugurated the Golden Pen Awards to promote professional and objective reportage of events in Nigeria, though it had limited outlook because entries were restricted to reports about its brands and activities. That has changed in the last three years, with the introduction of entries for reports that impact the society positively.
Following in that step was the impactful Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, when it came up with the Quill Awards in 2012. The company maintained that it is a platform to empower and reward journalists for qualitative reportage on Industry, Education, Corporate Social Responsibility, Children and Nutrition issues as well as Photography. It promised that the award would get better each year and it has not totally deviated from that promise.
On the continent, international scene, there is also the CNN MultiChoice Award, which started in 1995 and Africa is its catchment area. From the beginning, the organisers of the CNN-MultiChoice Award made it clear that they were out to encourage, promote and recognize excellence in journalism.
No doubt, the various awards have helped to promote excellent journalism, oiling the wheel of progress among media practitioners such that journalists are motivated to contribute better to nation building.
Though Promasidor Quill Awards is the youngest, it has set some examples that others seem to be copying, it however need not renege on its promise of making the award better each year. For instance, when it started, each category winner enjoyed a four-month training at the Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos but that has been stopped. It has however sustained the Thomson Foundation Summer Convergence Course for the overall winner introduced.
Two of those who had participated in the Thomson Foundation Summer Convergence Course shared their experience. The 2014 overall winner, Mr. Kunle Falayi, described the Course as eye-opening and empowering, because the multimedia skills he acquired would be useful to him for life.
His words, “If there was a single event that could change someone’s life in a huge way, one would say the Thomson Foundation Summer Convergence Course 2014 prompted by Promasidor Quill Awards was exactly that. The world of journalism is about telling stories in multimedia platforms and this training could not have come at a better time for me. Thanks to Promasidor Nigeria, I was able to acquire skills that some of the western journalists I met during my placement had not had the opportunity to learn.”
For the 2015 overall winner, Taiwo Alimi, the Promasidor Quill Awards is an award every journalist should aspire to participate in. The incumbent holder, Ajibola Amzat minutes after he was crowned the 2016 winner said that among the various platforms available in Nigeria to reward journalists, Promasidor Quill Awards is exceptional. He, therefore, counseled journalists in Nigeria to see the annual competition as a means of certification for the quality of their work.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
1 Comments
visit https://konstruktor.com for more interesting articles
We will review and take appropriate action.